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Yeah, that was a wierd thing to argue about. A pokemon with no defense can't possibly afford to get hit and one with no offense has no way to retaliate, so either option by itsself is a bad idea. Why can't they just compromise?
Either way, speed is where the real power lies.

I really like this episode. It was interesting to see a familiar gym leader from the past, Roark, and his father keep arguing and reconciling by the end of this episode. Too bad it meant another delay in the gym battle. I got so tired of all the waiting for a gym battle after the extra-long wait for the Hearthome gym battle between seasons 10 and 11, this delay was shorter but not much better. Byron was fun to watch, though. I especially liked how impressed he was with Team Rocket's hole digging. The part where the twerps kept face-planting every time Byron compliment Team Rocket's holes was hilarious too.

Overall, great episode, even if we didn't get to see the gym battle yet.

New shinies week of 11/24-12/1: pikipek
New shinies week of 12/1-12/8: None, playing Sun

Hahaha Little Roark was cute and reminded me of Max. I wish the Roark vs Byron battle was a little longer but it was pretty good. I also like how they grew a closer bond between father and son by the end of the show. Great episode.

I tend to like episodes like this one when we get them in the pokemon anime, where the focus is on the faults of adult, with no one being clearly right. Ash, Dawn, and Brock observe the feud, but they really don't judge. Ash and Dawn do tend to cheer for Rampardos in its battle against Bastiodon, but that's more b/c Roark is the person they know. Prior to the battle when Roark is explaining the reasoning for his feud with his dad, Ash doesn't express any emotion either way. And Roark is not asking him to, as well. Roark's reason for telling this story to Ash is make Ash appreciate how much this means to him, so that Ash will be more forgiving Roark using up his gym battle time. Ash appreciates the gesture, smilingly telling Roark it's fine with him. The one person who really does have a strong reaction to the story is Brock, and that's b/c he's been in similar situation.

The feud does have a bit of a forced ending, with Roark a little too quickly accepting Byron's reasoning for leaving the gym. The implication of this is that everything will be okay from now on, and I think that's b/c the writers wanted to resolve this 100% in this episode. It's similar to the forced resolution Aaron comes to with his Butterfree, or the one Grandma comes to with her Raichu. However, in a realistic sense, it's hard not to imagine Roark and Byron coming to a similar type of argument some time in the future, b/c it doesn't really feel like Byron has changed at all. He's considerate in his own way, but I can't imagine that's the way Roark is looking for. Brock is an excellent comparison, I think, in his episodes with his father. It feels each individual episode comes to some sort of happy conclusion, but the plot point is reused again and again. Even though this conflict will probably repeat itself, I think again we as the viewers, and Ash and company as the ones observing this in the episode, are not meant to judge this matter in who's right or wrong. What we do see, definitively, is that family relations are extremely important, which all characters agree on. But how those relationships should be really carried out is something that's not so clear at all; it's quite confusing, to be honest.

Byron is fantastic character, and his quirkiness makes this episode start out quite excellently. The fun of the episode really dies out for the TR battle, but that's okay; that still leaves 2/3 of the episode being superior, hilarious entertainment. I like, in general, how the Sinnoh gym leaders are all realistic, in the sense they have real personalities and real problems/faults. Fantina's tendency not to be at the gym as well as the way she tries to show off in using Ash's counter-shield as her own move (I consider this showing-off, anyway), Gardenia's seemingly shallow personality while being a very serious person-especially the way she plays on James's conscience to get him to give her Cacnea-, Maylene's confidence troubles, and Roark's and Byron's family issues here (Roark also had the advantage of having his gym battles with both Paul and Ash shown; he also, like Fantina, really showed his competitive nature at the sight of an usual move from Ash, the spinning move, which Ash used to his advantage at some important moments). Crasher Wake is only gym leader who was really bland, and, fittingly enough, he provided the easiest gym battle Ash has had so far in Sinnoh. All of these gym leaders feel like real people, in that Ash and company have just as much right to judge them as they have to judge him, which I really like. I think it works b/c of how long Ash has traveled; I get the feeling he's really interested in learning about these people.

This episode was ok. It was great to see Byron for the 1st time. Interesting how we find out that Byron is Roark's father. It was cool to see Bastiodon for the 1st time. The Bastiodon vs Rampardos battle was really cool, I like Rampardos much better. It was cool how they made an analogy/symbolism of Bastiodon being a shield, and Rampardos being a spear. Roark looks so cute as a young boy. It would've been cool to see who won, but TR just had to interrupt the battle...

I loved the drama between Byron and Roark here; seeing a father and son bicker warmed my heart. Seeing their Rampardos and Bastiodon battle was cool as well and seeing Team Rocket's scheme with the drill seemed basic, but I suppose that it was a catalyst for Byron and Roark bonding and ending their argument. It could've been worse imo.

Overall, I liked this episode. Byron had great moments with the holes. Also, I found it hilarious when they were just shouting "Bastiodoooon!!!" "Rampardoooos!!!" for a good thirty seconds. Glad there was an episode dedicated to the Roark/Byron relationship.